This was my birthday cake.
I got it from
Cafe Fernando, an inspiring blog that I am following.
I was not able to find one of the ingredients: Biscoff Spread or Speculoos Cream in Italy. Considering Cenk's (Cafe Fernando's owner) advices I decided to go with a combination of Milk & Hazelnut Spread and Peanut Butter. I don't know how the Biscoff addition tastes but the mixture that I used turned out just great.
Here are the ingredients.. (If you are able to get Biscoff, use that one instead. Or you can do it my way if you wish so.)
For chocolate shards:120g dark chocolate (70% cacao), broken into pieces
For cake:70g water
80g milk
50g unsweetened cocoa powder (some more for pans)
210g flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
150g butter, softened (some more for pans)
300g sugar
3 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Ganache Cream:150g dark chocolate (70% cacao), broken into pieces
150g milk chocolate, broken into pieces
330g hazelnut cream
70g peanut butter
400g heavy cream, cold
Preparation:Preparing chocolate shards: As first thing, cut 2 sheets of baking paper, each is about 36 x 40 cm.
Chop chocolate 8 seconds on Speed 8.
Melt it for 3 minutes at 60°C on Speed 2-3.
Pour melted chocolate over the first sheet of baking sheet placed on your work surface.
Spread it with a spatula in a thin and even layer, leaving about 1 cm space from the edges. Work in a quick manner. (If you are not fast enough it is going to be hard to work with the chocolate as it tends to set quickly resulting imperfections.)
Place the second sheet of baking paper on top and gently press to release the air bubbles. Starting with one short end, roll it tightly. Place it seam side down in a rimmed baking tray. Put a rather heavy object next to it so that it wouldn't move. (It fitted crosswise perfectly into my tray so I did not have to put anything next to it)
Chill in the fridge until set, for at least 2 hours.
Before you remove the rolled chocolate have a large baking tray lined with baking paper ready. Unroll the tube in one quick motion, which creates the chocolate shards. Remove the top sheet of baking paper, with the help of a spatula transfer them gently into the tray lined with baking sheet. Refrigerate chocolate shards until ready to use. (Cenk says you can prepare them even 3 days in advance.)
Preparing Cake: Grease two 20 cm cake pans and line the bottoms with baking paper. Grease the baking papers as well, dust the pans with cocoa powder, tap out the excess cocoa. (I covered the pans entirely with baking paper but you'd have better neat looking cakes if you follow the instructions above)
Put water and milk in TM Bowl, warm for 3 - 3,5 minutes at 90°C on Speed 1-2.
Start Thermomix on Speed 3-4. Add cocoa powder slowly through the hole of the lid and mix for 40 seconds.
Mix other 10 seconds on Speed 6, set aside, let it cool.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl and mix.
In a clean TM Bowl place butter and sugar. Beat for 1 minute on Speed 3-4.
And then beat for other 2 minutes on Speed 4.
Start Thermomix on Speed 3-4. Add eggs one at a time through the hole of the lid. Mix for 40 seconds.
Add vanilla and mix for 10 seconds on Speed 4. Scrape down the sides with spatula.
Start Thermomix on Speed 3-4. Through the hole of the lid add 1/3 of flour, 1/2 of cocoa milk, 1/3 of flour, the remaining cocoa milk and the remaining flour respectively. Beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides with spatula.
Beat for other 20 seconds on Speed 4-5.
Divide batter evenly into the pans and smooth the tops with a spatula.
Bake in preheated oven at 175°C for 25-30 minutes, check with toothpick test.
Remove the pans, let the cakes cool in the pans for a few minutes.
Take the cakes out and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Preparing Ganache: Place dark and milk chocolates in TM Bowl, chop for 10 seconds on Speed 8.
Melt for 2 minutes at 50°C on Speed 2-3. Scrape down the sides with spatula and continue for other 2 minutes at 50°C on Speed 2-3.
Add hazelnut cream and peanut butter, mix for 1 - 1.5 minutes on Speed 3-4. Scrape down the sides.
Insert butterfly, add cold cream and beat for 1 minute on Speed 3-4.
Allow ganache to rest a while in the fridge until thickens into a spreadable cream.
Remove the top crusts to flatten the surface of the cakes using a long knife.
Place the 1st cake into serving plate with the trimmed side facing up. Spread evenly 1/3 of the ganache on the top.
Place the second cake on the top with the trimmed side facing down. Coat entirely with the remaining ganache.
Take the chocolate shards out of the fridge, gently stick the shards to the ganache using tweezers (preferably previously chilled in the fridge). Stick long pieces on the sides and use the remaining smaller pieces on the top. (Even if I chilled my tweezers, I didn't use them, I made the whole thing with my bare hands. For the first time in my life my perpetually icy cold hands served a purpose !
Let it rest in the fridge until the ganache set and then serve.
Enjoy...
Photos: http://thermomixtarifdefterim.blogspot.it/2013/02/devils-food-cake.html http://cafefernando.com/devils-food-cake-for-design-sponge/